Tulamben ‘Drop Off’, Bali – July 2013

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Click on image to view the photo gallery

This was actually the first dive we did in Bali at Tulamben, our second being at the Coral Garden which was the subject of an earlier post. The dive starts with a swim across an area of sandy bottom where our guide pointed out several different kinds of brightly coloured Nudibranchs (Sea Slugs) dotted around. We soon reached the start of the wall that drops away to 40 metres and gives the dive site its name. Continue reading “Tulamben ‘Drop Off’, Bali – July 2013”

Tulamben Coral Garden, Bali – July 2013

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Click on image to view the photo gallery

 
When we signed up for a day of diving in Bali we weren’t quite sure what to expect after our five days of stunning diving at Bunaken in Sulawesi. We opted to stay along the stretch of coastline on the North East of Bali known as Amed, partly because it was reputed to have good diving.
 
After a wander around the various dive centres checking out what kind of dive packages they offered, we eventually chose Jukung Dive whose dive centre was a stones throw from our hotel. This Dutch owned concern has a very impressive dive centre and a great cafe/restaurant where we had lunch each day after diving. The divesites were at a location further up the coast at Tulamben which is best known for the wreck of the USAT Liberty (where we spent our second day – the subject of a later post). It’s a very picturesque location for starting a shore dive, with the local outriggered fishing boats sitting at the top of the beach where you kit up. Continue reading “Tulamben Coral Garden, Bali – July 2013”

‘Turtle City’, Bunaken Island, Sulawesi – July 2013

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Click on image to view the photo gallery

 
There was some deliberation during the planning stage of our holiday to Indonesia whether during our first week on Sulawesi it would be better to stay at a dive resort on the mainland or to stay on Bunaken Island itself. Having returned I can now say that we definitely made the right decision when we opted to stay on Bunaken Island. The scenery was spectacular and diving every day with Manado Tua (which looks for all the world like a mini-volcano) as a backdrop was certainly no hardship. Most days Manado Tua was even crowned with a little puff of cloud just to complete the effect. 🙂 Continue reading “‘Turtle City’, Bunaken Island, Sulawesi – July 2013”

Bunaken Island – Sulawesi, Indonesia – July 2013

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Click on image to view the photo gallery

 
Without a shadow of a doubt 2013 has been one of the best years for diving I have had since I took up the sport seven or so years ago. I quickly totalled up the number of dives I have done since the start of the year and discovered that I have just completed number 88 with a third of it still to go! The vast majority of these have been around Scotland and I already have a sizeable backlog of blog posts to sort for these. The backlog has however just become significantly larger as I have been lucky enough to spend the past few weeks enjoying some amazing diving in the much warmer waters around the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and Bali.
 
Continue reading “Bunaken Island – Sulawesi, Indonesia – July 2013”